Evergreen

Chapter 1

As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventure was about to happen – Pooh (A. A. Milne)

*

Not for the first time, Everett Earnshaw was arguing with his mother.

"Mum! It's not fair!"

His Mum sighed. Everett was in his terrible teens, and she was growing rather tired of it. "I'm sorry, Ev, but we must go to the synagogue on Saturdays!"

Now it was Everett's turn to sigh. Everything happened on Saturdays, yet he was forced to spend them learning Hebrew or whatever. Besides, despite going there regularly for 15 (long) years of his life, he hadn't made a single friend. All the teens there were nerds. Always with their head in a book. Everett, on the other hand, preferred getting active.

"Come on, Mum. It'll boost my chances of getting an RAF scholarship. You know that we can't afford university."

Although he would receive a student loan, his parents had figured out long ago that the numbers wouldn't add up the way he wished they would. But if he could get that scholarship, if Mum would let him attend the RAF cadets' Saturday session, he'd still be able to follow his dream.

To Mum's chagrin, Dad walked in. That was good news for Everett: Dad always took his side in an argument.

"What's going on here, eh, son?"

"Mum thinks I should go to the stupid synagogue –"

"It is not stupid!" cried Mum indignantly.

"- instead of going to Saturday cadets. What do you think?"

Everett had a smug smile on. Dad was all for his love of planes. The first day Ev went to cadets, Dad was proud as punch, telling anyone who cared to listen that it was his son who was learning to pilot planes. Judging by the grin on his face, those feelings hadn't faded.

"Let the lad go, Em," said Dad as Everett fist-pumped him enthusiastically. "Needs to make his own decisions, d'y know what I mean?"

Everett knew full well what he meant. He was going to spend his Saturdays in the skies!

*

Ever since Everett was a young child, he'd been entranced by planes. He'd played with toy planes, made paper planes and watched the film Planes. As he grew older, he researched all things to do with planes, learning the history of planes off by heart. His favourite film was Top Gun. He even had a poster of Amelia Earhart hidden under his bed (though he wouldn't dare tell anyone about that).

And now he was preparing to fly not just on Tuesdays but on Saturdays too. Putting his gear on, he rushed down the stairs while combing his hair and brushing his teeth.

"Hurry up, Ev! You're gonna be late, mate!" called Dad.

"I know; I'm not thick!" Ev called back while slamming his hairbrush on his dresser. A little bit of hair product, and he was ready for lift-off.

*

It was a beautiful day for plane-flying: the winds were light; the temperature was a little cold but not so cold as to freeze the engine; the sun lit up the RAF cadets' centre without being blinding. And to top it all off, Everett's friends were already there when he arrived, so he didn't have to hang around on his own being awkward.

"Thank goodness you're here, Everett!" said Marty, skipping the small talk to get to what he wanted to talk about. "There's something we need to discuss."

Everett grinned. He was never tired of these random discussions. "Fire away, then."

"There's a new cadet. She's over by the refreshments. I thought we could go and introduce ourselves to her."

"Yeah, that sounds cool." So Everett, Marty and Jade walked toward the new cadet. From a distance, Everett could see that she had long wavy brown hair and a pristine cadet's uniform. She was sipping on what looked like a cup of coffee and watching the teens around her chatting, unsure where to place herself in the chaos.

Marty smiled at her, which shifted her gaze from the other cadets to the three standing before her. "Hi, I'm Marty," he said. "what's your name?"

"I'm Amelia," she said. Up close, Everett noticed that she had brown eyes and a pleasant sprinkling of freckles on her face.

"Amelia? Like Amelia Earhart?" said Everett.

"Yes, I'm named after her. My family are really into planes."

"Mine too!" said Jade. "I'm Jade, by the way, and this is Everett."

"Hey, I can introduce myself!"

Everyone laughed and settled into a friendly conversation about all things to do with planes until the RAF instructor, Felipe, assembled the cadets. The four of them listened to a long speech about combat flying. How to dodge and defend, how to swoop and shoot. Obviously, Everett already knew how to shoot. Call of Duty had done its duty in that respect.

"... and now we're going to get into the planes –"

Before Felipe had finished speaking, Everett ran over to a plane. When he realised that no one else had followed, he went bright red. Way too eager.

"I did not dismiss you, Mr Earnshaw," said Felipe coldly. "Come back over here."

Rolling his eyes at his mates, he returned to his spot in the crowd. "Dismissed."

"You have got to be kidding me," groaned Everett under his breath.

"I bet he just wanted to wind you up," said Amelia. He turned in surprise.

"Yeah. Felipe's like that. He seems super strict, but really he gets a kick out of annoying the youth."

Amelia laughed, and Everett couldn't help but smile.

They hopped into their planes. They started their engines. Then the aircraft began to soar up and up and up... just underneath the clouds... Everett did a cheeky corkscrew. He was a bit of a show-off.

The radio picked up a message. "I want the blue planes and green planes to fight each other. Both are loaded with fake bullets, in case you're worried."

Worried? Everett? Those two words never went together. He was the emblem of bravery. A Gryffindor, as the bookworms at the synagogue called him. It looked like Amelia was a fellow Gryffindor. Her green plane shot at Everett's blue plane within seconds of the announcement. Furious yet elated, he shot back at her, dodging her shots adeptly. Presently, Marty and Jade joined in with green and blue planes respectively. They looped and shot until, in what felt like no time at all, it was time to descend from the sky.

After the session ended, Everett, Marty, Jade and Amelia returned to their earlier spot by the refreshments. Marty gulped down a glass of orange juice and Everett munched on a chocolate chip biscuit. Jade had a question to ask Amelia.

"Where did you fly planes before you came here?"

Amelia threaded her fingers through her hair. "I used to be at Greenling. It was alright, I guess, but I wanted a change of scenery."

"Fair enough. I guess the grass is greener on the other side sometimes."

Meanwhile, Everett was in deep thought. It was a bit early to tell, but he was thinking that he wanted to be friends with Amelia.

"Hey, should we all swap numbers?"

Amelia's eyes brightened up. "Yes, that's a good idea."

Everett mentally high-fived himself. It had been so long since he'd last met someone who he wanted to befriend that he'd almost forgotten the feeling. The feeling of fresh opportunities and unexpected delight; the feeling of starting a new book, as his bookworm friend Hassan would say. Everett knew his adventures were just beginning...